GREEN BAY – For Ed Policy, election as the 11th president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers may be the final step in a life devoted to professional football.
The son of an NFL executive, commissioner of the Arena Football League and chief operating officer of the Packers, football was a big part of Policy’s life.
The Packers did not make Policy available to discuss his new role with the team, but during an interview with Press-Gazette in 2016, he discussed his career goals.
“At some point, I would love to run an NFL club or be at a high level within the NFL league office. That’s kind of what I always saw myself doing from a young age .I think the more I work for Mark (Murphy), the more successful I’ll be in whatever role is next for me.”
Policy joined the Packers in 2012 as the team’s lead attorney and was given the additional role of chief operating officer in 2018. In this role, he added responsibility for communications, marketing and from fan engagement, sales and business development, security, and development and hospitality. departments.
Policy, who is 53, will succeed Murphy in July 2025, when Murphy reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70. Murphy was around the same age when he was named chairman and CEO in 2007.
How was Policy chosen to be the Packers’ next CEO?
The Packers hired management consulting firm Korn Ferry, headquartered in Los Angeles, to help them find candidates. The team said more than 90 applicants were considered. Interviews with the finalists took place in early June.
Jed Hughes, who managed the Korn Ferry team, participated with another company in the search for Murphy, then the athletic director at Northwestern University. Murphy was elected president and CEO of the Packers in late 2007.
The team said it follows NFL guidelines for executive hiring, which includes considering a wide range of candidates. He did not identify any other candidates.
The policy was voted on unanimously during a special board meeting Monday.
Search committee recommended policy among many candidates
The Packers’ search committee included Senior Director Susan Finco, Vice President Dan Ariens, Mike Simmer (Treasurer, Executive Committee), DJ Long (Executive Committee, Personnel and Compensation Committee), Marcia Anderson (Executive Committee), Karl Schmidt (Executive Committee), Michael Barber (Packers Foundation Chairman), Jeffrey Joerres (Investment Committee Chairman), Eddie Garcia (Former Player, General Board Member), Robyn Davis (General Board Member) of directors) and Mike Daniels (member at large of the board of directors).
“We unanimously agreed that Ed Policy is an excellent person to lead our organization, has an inspiring and innovative vision for the future, and provides us with great continuity of leadership that will enable a smooth transition. gentleness,” said Finco, who was the search committee. president, in a written statement.
More:Green Bay Packers name Ed Policy to succeed Mark Murphy as president and CEO in 2025
The policy was developed in Youngstown, Ohio
Policy attended high school in Youngstown, Ohio, where he played football. His father, Carmen Policy, was a prominent lawyer in Youngstown, about 56 miles from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton and 75 miles from Cleveland. Carmen grew up with Ed DeBartolo Jr., owner of the San Francisco 49ers, and became involved with the team in the early 1980s when Ed Policy was in grade school. The family home remained in Youngstown.
Policy has two brothers – one a surgeon, the other a lawyer – and two sisters, one a lawyer and the other with an MBA.
According to Policy, Youngstown was a lot like Green Bay: a working-class community, a football town, and a good place to raise children. Youngstown suffered and has not recovered from its over-reliance on steel production. He sees the Titletown district as a way for Green Bay to avoid a similar fate.
“This experience impacts how I approach this and how I approach this issue, wanting to make sure that this community and this economy is diverse, attracts young people and is ready to meet the challenges of years to come,” he said during the 2016 interview.
Titletown is a 45+ acre development immediately west of Lambeau Field. It is a commercial, residential, recreational and entertainment district that includes a 10-acre park in its middle, with playgrounds, a soccer field, an ice rink in winter and a snowtubing trail open to the public . Commercial tenants include the Lodge Kohler Hotel, Hinterland Brewery and Restaurant, Bellin Health Titletown Sports Medicine and Orthopedics Clinic, The Turn Restaurant, Associated Bank and the US Venture office building.
One of the main components of Titletown is TitletownTech, a joint venture with Microsoft that consists of a venture capital fund, an innovation lab and a new business studio and which was led by Policy.
The policy is also responsible for the Airens Hill snowtubing trail. A public comment session said the Packers should include a sledding hill in Titletown and Policy, remembering a park in New York that had a sloping lawn on top of a building, pushed for something similar in the development of the Packers.
Politics has business and law degrees
Policy attended the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a degree in accounting, and Stanford, where he earned a law degree. With these qualifications, he could have easily followed the path to becoming a sports agent, but, influenced by his father, he moved more towards the management side.
“I grew up with my father negotiating with agents on the other side and I always took my father’s side,” he said. “I’ve probably always been on the management side, just based on what I’ve been exposed to. I have a family bias there.”
Policy’s experience includes commissioner of the Arena Football League
Policy worked with the Arena Football League for nine years, including a period in 2008-09 during which he served as commissioner, president and CEO. He also served as deputy commissioner and president, chief operating officer and executive vice president of league strategic development and legal affairs. He oversaw all activities and operations of the AFL, including strategic development, legal affairs, sales, finance, marketing, broadcasting, digital media, football operations, labor relations, events and human resources.
He served as an executive consultant to the NFL in 2009-2010, a position in which he advised and assisted NFL senior management on strategic and development matters, and worked with senior executives on special projects in various areas of activity. He knows NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell well.
Policy’s father-in-law is a retired admiral and decorated fighter pilot.
Policy’s father-in-law is retired Vice Adm. Anthony Less, a decorated fighter pilot and former commander of the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron.
“Have you ever seen ‘Meet the Parents’? I was Focker. I think I passed the test,” Policy said in a 2016 interview. “At first he might be a stepfather He’s a great guy and one of the most amazing grandparents you’ll ever meet.”
Policy and his wife, Christy, have two sons.
Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG